Turns of Phrase
I visited my grandmother yesterday. It's been a while, so I was struck by her speech patterns: golly gee and other old school turns of phrase. It was totally familiar, because she's always talked this way, but I never really thought about it.
Now, I say gee and golly, too, but admittedly as a running joke of dated phrases. But she does so because she comes from that era. It's like peeking back in time in a way that's more genuine and probably true to history than just watching films or television -- depending on how the speaker themselves has been modified by media influences after the fact.
To be fair, my other grandmother has her own turns of phrase dating from the days of her youth -- "what the hang does he think he's doing?" for instance -- but I see her much more frequently, so they don't stand out nearly as much.
Now, I say gee and golly, too, but admittedly as a running joke of dated phrases. But she does so because she comes from that era. It's like peeking back in time in a way that's more genuine and probably true to history than just watching films or television -- depending on how the speaker themselves has been modified by media influences after the fact.
To be fair, my other grandmother has her own turns of phrase dating from the days of her youth -- "what the hang does he think he's doing?" for instance -- but I see her much more frequently, so they don't stand out nearly as much.